Either in a bout of confusion or with grand plans to link the road to the existing NJ 20 by looping it along the Passaic River, the road was originally labeled NJ 20. Once it was clear that the sections of NJ 20 would never be connected, this highway was renamed NJ 19 in 1985.
State control begins along Broad Street, CR 509, about 100 feet south of Colfax Avenue in Clifton, at the end of an exit ramp from Route 46. Construction in the late 1980s extended the road north of I-80 to the fringe of Paterson’s Great Falls district, and the highway is now designated all the way to Main Street, although state control ends about 600 feet before the intersection.
| Mile | Street Name | Feature (South to North) |
| 0.00 | NJ 19 BEGINS, Clifton City | |
| 0.02 | Broad St | (Ramp from US 46) [Colfax Ave, CR 609] {signal} |
| 0.11 | Broad St | Ramp from US 46 to Garden State Parkway {underpass} |
| 0.13 | Broad St | US 46 {underpass} |
| 0.25 | Broad St | Weasel Brook {culvert} |
| 0.34 | Broad St | Ramp from Garden State Parkway to US 46 {underpass} |
| 0.46 | NJ 19 | Ramp to Broad St {underpass} |
| 0.50 | NJ 19 | Ramp from NJ 19 to Garden State Parkway {underpass, southbound only} |
| 1.15 | NJ 19 | Ramp to Broad St {overpass} |
| 1.47 | NJ 19 | Broad St, CR 509 {underpass} |
| 1.63 | Entering Paterson City | |
| 1.80 | NJ 19 | Valley Rd, CR 621 |
| 2.30 | NJ 19 | Ramp from NJ 19 southbound to I-80 eastbound {overpass} |
| 2.46 | NJ 19 | Bergen-Passaic Expwy, I-80 {underpass} |
| 2.66 | NJ 19 | Ramp from I-80 westbound to NJ 19 southbound {underpass} |
| 2.69 | NJ 19 | Ramp from NJ 19 northbound to I-80 westbound {underpass} |
| 2.71 | NJ 19 | Grand Ave, CR 638 {overpass} |
| 2.91 | NJ 19 | Marshall St {signal} |
| 2.92 | End NJDOT maintenance; begin Passaic Co. maintenance | |
| 3.00 | Ward St | Cianci St {signal} |
| 3.04 | Ward St | Main St, CR 509 {signal} |
| 3.04 | NJ 19 ENDS, Paterson City | |